1948 in film

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Last updated February 20, 2025

The year 1948 in film involved some significant events.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1948 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1948
Rank	Title	Distributor	Domestic rentals
1	The Red Shoes	General Film	$5,000,000^[1]
2	Red River	United Artists	$4,506,825^[2]
3	The Paleface	Paramount	$4,500,000^[1]
4	Johnny Belinda	Warner Bros.	$4,266,000^[3]
5	Easter Parade	MGM	$4,144,000^[4]
6	The Three Musketeers	MGM	$4,124,000^[4]
7	The Snake Pit	20th Century Fox	$4,100,000^[1]
8	The Emperor Waltz	Paramount	$4,000,000^[1]
9	Homecoming	MGM	$3,699,000^[4]
10	Sitting Pretty	20th Century Fox	$3,550,000^[5]

Events

May 3 – The Supreme Court of the United States decide in United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. holding that the practice of block booking and ownership of theater chains by film studios constituted anti-competitive and monopolistic trade practices.
Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.

Awards

Category/Organization	6th Golden Globe Awards March 16, 1949	21st Academy Awards March 24, 1949
Best Film	Johnny Belinda The Treasure of the Sierra Madre	Hamlet
Best Director	John Huston The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Best Actor	Laurence Olivier Hamlet
Best Actress	Jane Wyman Johnny Belinda
Best Supporting Actor	Walter Huston The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Best Supporting Actress	Ellen Corby I Remember Mama	Claire Trevor Key Largo
Best Screenplay, Adapted	Richard Schweizer The Search	John Huston The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Best Screenplay, Original	Richard Schweizer The Search	Richard Schweizer The Search
Best Foreign Language Film	Hamlet	Monsieur Vincent

Top ten money making stars

Rank	Actor/Actress
1.	Bing Crosby
2.	Betty Grable
3. (tie)	Bud Abbott Lou Costello
4.	Gary Cooper
5.	Bob Hope
6.	Humphrey Bogart
7.	Clark Gable
8.	Cary Grant
9.	Spencer Tracy
10.	Ingrid Bergman

Notable films released in 1948

United States unless stated

V

Vidya , starring Dev Anand – (India)

W

Waverley Steps – (GB) documentary
Western Heritage , starring Tim Holt
When My Baby Smiles at Me , starring Betty Grable and Dan Dailey
When You Come Home
Whiplash , starring Alexis Smith and Dane Clark
Whispering Smith , starring Alan Ladd and Robert Preston
The Winslow Boy , directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Robert Donat and Margaret Leighton – (GB)

Y

Yellow Sky , starring Gregory Peck, Anne Baxter, Richard Widmark
You Gotta Stay Happy , starring Joan Fontaine and James Stewart
The Young Guard (Molodaya Gvardiya) – (U.S.S.R.)

Serials

G-Men Never Forget , starring Clayton Moore
Dangers of the Canadian Mounted
Adventures of Frank and Jesse James , starring Clayton Moore
Superman , starring Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill
Tex Granger
Congo Bill

Short film series

Births

January 7 – Kenny Loggins, American singer-songwriter
January 10 – William Sanderson, American actor
January 12 – Anthony Andrews, English actor
January 13 – Malcolm Storry, British actor
January 14 – Carl Weathers, American actor and football player (d. 2024)
January 16 – John Carpenter, American director, producer and screenwriter
January 18 – M. C. Gainey, American character actor
January 20 – Geno Silva, American actor (d. 2020)
January 21 – Trey Wilson, American character actor (d. 1989)
January 25 – Emily Richard, British actress (d. 2024)
January 28 – Mikhail Baryshnikov, Latvian-American actor
January 29 – Marc Singer, Canadian actor
February 1 – Rick James, American singer and actor (d. 2004)
February 3 – Thomas Rosales Jr., American actor and stuntman
February 5
- Christopher Guest, American-British screenwriter, musician, director, actor and comedian
- Barbara Hershey, American actress
- Tom Wilkinson, English actor (d. 2023)
February 9 – David Hayman, Scottish actor and director
February 15 – Tino Insana, American actor, producer, writer, voice artist and comedian (d. 2017)
February 16 – Troy Evans, American actor
February 17 – Anne Lonnberg, American actress and singer of Swedish descent
February 18 – Sinéad Cusack, Irish actress
February 20 – Jennifer O'Neill, American actress
February 22 – John Ashton, American actor (d. 2024)
February 23 – Dennis Waterman, English actor and singer (d. 2022)
February 25 – K. P. A. C. Lalitha, Indian actress (d. 2022)
February 28
- Mike Figgis, English director and screenwriter
- Bernadette Peters, American actress and singer
- Mercedes Ruehl, American actress
February 29 – Ken Foree, American actor
March 1 – Karl Johnson, Welsh actor
March 4 – Brian Cummings, American voice actor
March 5 – Annette Charles, American actress and dancer (d. 2011)
March 6 – Anna Maria Horsford, American actress
March 14 – Billy Crystal, American actor and comedian
March 16 – James Otis, American actor (d. 2020)
March 20 – Helene Vannari, Estonian actress (d. 2022)
March 23 - Penelope Milford, American actress
March 25 – Bonnie Bedelia, American actress
March 26 – Steven Tyler, American singer, songwriter, musician and actor
March 28
- Matthew Corbett, English television personality, actor, writer, puppeteer and comedian
March 29 – Bud Cort, American actor
March 31 – Rhea Perlman, American actress and writer
April 5 – Carlos Carrasco, American actor
April 6 – Patrika Darbo, American actress
April 9 – Jaya Bachchan, Indian actress
April 20 – Gregory Itzin, American character actor (d. 2022)
April 25 – Freda Foh Shen, American film, television and theatre actress
April 28 – Marcia Strassman, American actress and singer (d. 2014)
May 3
- Larry Brandenburg, American actor
- Chris Mulkey, American actor
May 11 – Pam Ferris, Welsh actress
May 12
- Lindsay Crouse, American actress
- Richard Riehle, American actor
May 14 – Walter Olkewicz, American character actor (d. 2021)
May 15 – Malcolm Stewart, Canadian actor
May 18 – Jesper Christensen, Danish actor
May 19 – Bruce Jarchow, American actor
May 21 – Jonathan Hyde, Australian-born English actor
May 24 – James Cosmo, Scottish actor
June 1 – Powers Boothe, American actor (d. 2017)
June 7 – Xavier Saint-Macary, French actor (d. 1988)
June 11 – Michael Swan, American actor
June 18 - Philip Jackson, English actor
June 19 – Phylicia Rashad, American actress, singer and director
June 21 – Ian McEwan, English author
June 22 – Steve Eastin, American character actor
June 28
- Kathy Bates, American actress
- J. Michael Riva, American production designer (d. 2012)
July 2 – Saul Rubinek, German-born Canadian actor, director and producer
July 5 – William Hootkins, American actor (d. 2005)
July 6 – Nathalie Baye, French actress
July 7 – Lori Tan Chinn, American actress and comedian
July 9 – Ray Baker, American actor
July 12
- Susan Blu, American voice actress, voice director and casting director
- Ben Burtt, American sound designer
July 13 – Catherine Breillat, French director
July 15 - Richard Franklin, Australian director (d. 2007)
July 16 - Rubén Blades, Panamanian musician, composer and actor
July 20 – Muse Watson, American actor
July 26 – Leon Vitali, English actor (d. 2022)
July 28 – Georgia Engel, American actress (d. 2019)
July 30 – Jean Reno, French actor
August 5 – Barbara Flynn, English actress
August 13 – Peter Iacangelo, American actor (d. 2021)
August 14 – Joseph Marcell, British actor and comedian
August 18 – Grainger Hines, American actor, writer, producer and director
August 19 – Jim Carter, English actor
August 20 – John Noble, Australian actor
August 30 – Lewis Black, American actor and comedian
September 1 – James Rebhorn, American character actor (d. 2014)
September 4 – Michael Berryman, American character actor
September 7 – Susan Blakely, American actress
September 11
- Philip Alford, former American actor
- Michael Sacks, American actor
September 15 – Kathryn Kates, American actress (d. 2022)
September 17 – John Ritter, American actor (d. 2003)
September 19
- Jan Hoag, American actress
- Jeremy Irons, English actor
September 24
- Gordon Clapp, American actor
- Phil Hartman, Canadian-American actor (d. 1998)
September 25 - Mimi Kennedy, American actress
September 26 – Olivia Newton-John, British-born Australian actress and singer (d. 2022)
September 27 – A Martinez, American actor and singer
October 2 – Persis Khambatta, Indian actress and model (d. 1998)
October 3 - Niall Buggy, Irish actor
October 5 – Sal Viscuso, American actor
October 8 – James Harper, American actor
October 11
- John R. Cherry III, American director and screenwriter (d. 2022)
- Jonathan Hadary, American actor
October 14 – Gerard Murphy, Irish actor (d. 2013)
October 16 – Hema Malini, Indian actress and politician
October 17
- Margot Kidder, Canadian actress (d. 2018)
- George Wendt, American actor and comedian
October 21 – Tom Everett, American actor
October 28 – Telma Hopkins, American actress and singer
October 29 – Kate Jackson, American actress
October 30 – Don Creech, American actor
October 31 – Michael Kitchen, English actor and producer
November 3 - Robert Pugh, Welsh actor
November 11 – Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (d. 2005)
November 13 – Adelle Lutz, American model, actress and costume designer
November 14 – Robert Ginty, American actor and producer (d. 2009)
November 18 – Dom Irrera, American actor and stand-up comedian
November 20 – Richard Masur, American character actor
November 26 – Marianne Muellerleile, American actress
November 28 – Agnieszka Holland, Polish director and screenwriter
November 30 – Larry Bishop, American actor, screenwriter and director
December 1 – Remo Girone, Italian actor
December 6 – JoBeth Williams, American actress and director
December 9 - Ron Vawter, American actor (d. 1994)
December 14
- Dee Wallace, American actress
December 15
- Melanie Chartoff, American actress and comedian
- Cassandra Harris, Australian actress (d. 1991)
December 21 – Samuel L. Jackson, American actor and producer
December 22 – Lynne Thigpen, American actress (d. 2003)
December 27 – Gérard Depardieu, French actor and filmmaker
December 31 – Donna Summer, American singer and songwriter (d. 2012)

Deaths

January 7 – Charles C. Wilson, 53, American actor, It Happened One Night , The Hell Cat , Waterfront Lady , Legion of Terror
February 11 – Sergei Eisenstein, 50, Russian film director, Battleship Potemkin , Alexander Nevsky , Ivan the Terrible, Part One , Ivan the Terrible, Part Two
February 14 – James Baskett, 44, American actor, Song of the South
February 23 – Patricia Farr, 35, American actress, Lady Luck , Criminals of the Air , Girls Can Play , Lady Behave!
March 10 – William L. Thorne, 69, American actor, Vanishing Men
March 25 – Warren Hymer, 42, American actor, Up the River , She's Dangerous , The Lady and the Mob
May 3 – Gideon Wahlberg, 58, Swedish actor, writer and film director
May 12 – Dante Cappelli, 82, Italian actor, Macbeth , Love Everlasting , The Mysterious Mirror
May 26 – Torsten Bergström, 51, Swedish actor and director, The Pilgrimage to Kevlaar , Trollebokungen , Ungdom
May 29 – May Whitty, 82, English actress, Lassie Come Home , Gaslight , My Name Is Julia Ross
July 5 – Carole Landis, 29, American actress, Topper Returns , I Wake Up Screaming , One Million B.C. , Four Jills in a Jeep
July 15 – William Selig, 84, American pioneer studio builder
July 23 – David Wark Griffith, 73, American film director, The Birth of a Nation , Intolerance , Broken Blossoms , Orphans of the Storm
August 13 – Elaine Hammerstein, 51, American actress, Paint and Powder , The Midnight Express
August 13 – Edwin Maxwell, 62, American actor, Duck Soup , Cleopatra , His Girl Friday
September 24 – Warren William, 53, American actor, Gold Diggers of 1933 , The Wolf Man , Lady for a Day , Imitation of Life
September 28 – Gregg Toland, 44, American cinematographer, Citizen Kane , The Best Years of Our Lives , The Long Voyage Home , December 7th: The Movie , Wuthering Heights , The Grapes of Wrath , Song of the South , The Little Foxes
October 10 – Mary Eaton, 47, American actress, Glorifying the American Girl , The Cocoanuts
October 13 – Samuel S. Hinds, 73, American actor, It's a Wonderful Life , Buck Privates
October 16 – Nora Lane, 43, American actress, The Cisco Kid , Six-Gun Trail
October 21 – Elissa Landi, 43, Austrian-American actress, The Count of Monte Cristo , After the Thin Man
November 9 – Edgar Kennedy, 58, American actor, Duck Soup , A Star Is Born
December 20 – C. Aubrey Smith, 85, English actor, A Bill of Divorcement , Madame Curie

Film debuts

John Agar – Fort Apache
Rona Anderson – Sleeping Car to Trieste
Maxine Audley – Anna Karenina
Claire Bloom – The Blind Goddess
Scott Brady – The Counterfeiters
Beau Bridges – No Minor Vices
Pat Buttram – The Strawberry Roan
Capucine – The Eagle with Two Heads
Ian Carmichael – Bond Street
Phyllis Coates – Smart Girls Don't Talk
Doris Day – Romance on the High Seas
José Ferrer – Joan of Arc
Joe Flynn – The Babe Ruth Story
Kathleen Freeman – The Naked City
Aldo Giuffrè – Assunta Spina
Michael Gough – Blanche Fury
James Gregory – The Naked City
James Griffith – Blonde Ice
Laurence Harvey – House of Darkness
Thomas Browne Henry – Hollow Triumph
Audrey Hepburn – Dutch in Seven Lessons
Teri Horváth – Treasured Earth
Rock Hudson – Fighter Squadron
Morgan Jones – Hometown Girl
Howard Keel – The Small Voice
Klaus Kinski – Morituri
Eartha Kitt – Casbah
Berry Kroeger – The Iron Curtain
Christopher Lee – Corridor of Mirrors
Margaret Leighton – Bonnie Prince Charlie
Frank Lovejoy – Black Bart
Klara Luchko – The Young Guard
Ralph Moody – Tex Granger
Nonna Mordyukova – The Young Guard
Terence Morgan – Hamlet
Audie Murphy – Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven
Barbara Murray – Anna Karenina
Laurence Naismith – Trouble in the Air
Jeanette Nolan – Macbeth
Tamara Nosova – The Young Guard
Robert Osterloh – The Dark Past
Debra Paget – Cry of the City
Irene Papas – Fallen Angels
Nehemiah Persoff – The Naked City
John Randolph – The Naked City
Debbie Reynolds – June Bride
Richard Rober – Call Northside 777
Robert Rockwell – You Gotta Stay Happy
Emy Storm – Banketten
Russ Tamblyn – The Boy with Green Hair
Aline Towne – Homecoming
Patrick Troughton – Escape
John van Dreelen – But Not in Vain
Sam Wanamaker – My Girl Tisa

References

1 2 3 4 "All-Time Top-Grossers". Variety . Vol. 193, no. 6. January 13, 1954. p. 10. ISSN 0042-2738 . Retrieved 2022-07-20– via Archive.org.
↑ Andreychuk, Ed (1997). The Golden Corral: A Roundup of Magnificent Western Films. McFarland & Company Inc. pp. 24–25. ISBN 0-7864-0393-4.
↑ Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1–31 p 29 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
↑ "Top Grossers of 1948." Variety , January 5, 1949, p. 46.

External links

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[topgrossers-1] 1 2 3 4 "All-Time Top-Grossers". Variety . Vol. 193, no. 6. January 13, 1954. p. 10. ISSN 0042-2738 . Retrieved 2022-07-20– via Archive.org.

[GoldenCorralBook-2] Andreychuk, Ed (1997). The Golden Corral: A Roundup of Magnificent Western Films. McFarland & Company Inc. pp. 24–25. ISBN 0-7864-0393-4.

[warners-3] Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1–31 p 29 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551

[Mannix-4] 1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.

[5] "Top Grossers of 1948." Variety , January 5, 1949, p. 46.

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